The links between the slit-tapestry fragment (fig.1),
which appears on the opening page, and the knotted-pile one (fig.2)
on the home page are unmistakable and amazing as an almost 1000
year period separates them. Both of these weavings are based on
an archaic mythological figure - the master/mistress of the animal
world. All the icons in the slit-tapestry—the large birds, their
exaggerated tail feathers, the stripes on their bodies, the deity
figure, the hooks, and even the gold field color—were retained and
remained together as an ensemble for many hundreds of years
to reappear in the later pile woven version.

These weavings and the traditional weaving culture that connects
them, as well as a number of similar examples, will be shown and
discussed in the coming exhibition “A New Look at Some Ancient Carpet
Fragments.”